Wednesday, April 02, 2008

TMZ bends over, but refuses to apologize for mocking the death of Elliott Yamin's mother

The Hollywood-hating, celebrity-baiting, AOL and Time-Warner financed corporate porn-pushing gossip site TMZ.com has removed the “offending line” from the cruel, nasty and inexcuseable mockery of the death of American Idol graduate Elliott Yamin’s mother.

Elliott, always the emotional underdog and very much perceived as a nice guy, had tragedy compounded yesterday when the heavily-funded and promoted website mocked the passing of his dear mom with the headline:

Mom of Former "Idol" Finalist Sings "My Way"

The item ended with the line, “Yamin finished in 3rd place in 2006 on 'Idol,' behind Katharine McPhee and Taylor Hicks -- who, like Mrs. Yamin, will never be heard from again.”

Would that the same be said about the clueless cowards at TMZ. With no moral compass of its own, the site cashed in on the outrage by following up not with an apology but a poll, asking if readers thought they’d-- tee-hee-- “gone too far,” and promising to remove the final phrase if 51% of readers voted in favor.

The big question left hanging is why the site’s frontman and alleged editor, the shaved bronzed midget Harvey Levin, didn’t pull up his pants and put his foot down immediately, removing the offensive post and issuing an apology to readers and the Yamin family (TMZ was among those pressuring Jay Leno to apologize for his distasteful comments about their fellow gays).

But there is no decency at TMZ and its skidmarks are staining the image of its corporate overlords, AOL and Time-Warner. The site almost always missteps when it prances beyond its Twink Male Zone into the lives of real grown-up celebrities-- but the offense is always most egregious in the case of decent ordinary folk like Mrs. Yamin,

Entertainment News, Celebrity Gossip and Hollywood Rumours. This is none of the above.

That last sentence should really be altered. It's cruel, and an exercise in bad taste.

" never heard from again"?! Have some respect TMZ!

That is so disrespectful. There is a difference between reporting entertainment news and being totally out of line and having no respect for human life. It would do you good to remove the last comment you put about not being heard from again. It's sick.

…the joke at the end was out of line. It is never in good taste to make a joke and mention someones passing at the same time.

"who, like Mrs. Yamin, will never be heard from again." WHO EVER WROTE THIS SHOULD BE ASHAMED OF THEMSELVES! shame on you 10000x's

My prayers and condolences to the Yamin family. That was pretty mean. The man's mother just died and you find it neccessary to insult him? Not funny. Just plain disrespectful.

Wow.......a twofer. TMZ displaying their crassness and obsession with American Ido all in one fell swoop.whomever wrote this article is gonna get bitch slapped by karma. that was just out of line.TMZ..I BOYCOTTED PEREZ HILTON AND X17 FOR DUMBASS COMMENTS LIKE THIS..I GUESS ANOTHER ONE BITES THE DUST!!! YOUR OWN POOR MOTHERS SHOULD BE ASHAMED OF THEIR CHILDREN.

Elliott, my prayers are with you and your family. I'm sorry for your loss.Yeah, as someone who recently lost her mom to cancer-that last sentence was pretty offensive...

Is there somebody at TMZ who gets a "private hard-on" being so mean? Off handed comments are one thing, but with this comment you've reached an all time low. This time I'm NOT taking the high road - YOU ASS WIPES.

Ah, there are close to 600 similar expressions. But it will take more than that for TMZ to be set straight. At least they took some of our advice since we posted yesterday afternoon, and began to cleaning up their crass, amateurish and lowlife headlines. Here’s a sample of the ones squeezed out this morning:

HELP HAITI

TEXT "HAITI" TO 90999 to give $10 to the Red Cross (click photo for more aid groups)

GET UPDATES

About Me

DANNY GANS

Click the photo for our complete coverage of the death and legacy of the Las Vegas superstar

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